The book is the result of a recent but intensive cooperation between the faculties of law of the universities of Ljubljana and Johannesburg. As is often the case in life, the starting point of this project was a friendship. A friendship between two law professors who, at the same point in time, became deans of their respective law schools – Prof Letlhokwa Mpedi (now Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic (UJ)) in Johannesburg and Prof Grega Strban in Ljubljana. They decided to connect their institutions in a formal way by establishing a cooperation that would outlive their mandates as deans and provide a professional platform for legal scholars of both universities to get first-hand insight into a very different legal system, thus widening their legal horizons and inspiring a different view and new solutions for their own national law. This noble endeavour has so far been a great success. What might have seemed an unlikely alliance proved to be an extremely valuable and inspiring experience both on a professional and personal level.
The idea of this book was born after a joint conference held in Johannesburg in 2019. Here, experts from both institutions presented current relevant issues in different legal areas and discussed how both countries dealt with them. After insightful debates, it was decided that they should, on the one hand, be written down, and, on the other hand, that the written texts should not only reflect those debates but should broaden and deepen the research. It should not merely be a collection of conference papers, but a true scientific monograph, destined to legal scholars and practitioners, researching, teaching and practicing in national and international environments.
Jerca Kramberger Škerl, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana
Elmarie Susan Fourie, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Johannesburg
